Atriums have become popular in commercial, office and residential buildings, providing high marketing value with their environmentally controlled, naturally lit spaces. Such spaces, however, present a challenge for fire protection engineers. The protection of building occupants from smoke in the event of a fire is one of the primary objectives in the design of any fire protection system. Achieving this objective is difficult when dealing with very large spaces, such as an atrium or an indoor sports arena, where a large number of occupants may be present and the compartment geometries may be complex. By interconnecting a number of floor spaces, an atrium violates the concept of floor-to-floor compartmentation, which is intended to limit the spread of fire and smoke from the floor of fire origin to other stories. A fire on the floor of an atrium or in any space open to it can cause smoke to fill the atrium and connected floor spaces. Elevators, open stairs and egress routes that are within the atrium space can also become smoke-laden.

Publication date

2000-05-01

Language

English

Affiliation

NRC Institute for Research in Construction; National Research Council Canada